accept and make use of them; but always with caution, not to lay so much weight upon them, as that the reed, broken under our hand, may go into it and pierce it.

On the loss of a friend, we must not say, This and that person, this and that amusement shall be my relief and support; but-To Providence I must submit-Providence will support me in what way it sees proper.-The means on which I must depend, under that, are a careful and cheerful performance of, and an acquiescence in whatever is my duty : I must accommodate myself to all its appointments; and be they health or languor; a dull or an active and gay life; a society agreeable to my fancy, or one that is not, or none at all-if I do but endeavour to keep up this right disposition, and behave accordingly, nothing ought to make me melancholy or unhappy, nothing can, nothing shall. Forward beyond this life, in this case, I not only may, but ought to look with joy and hope, with cheerfulness and alacrity of spirit: forward in this life, it is not only painful, but faulty, to look either with anxiety, or with self-flattering schemes. Yet on this present scene, from day to day, and forward, so far as is necessary to the duty of prudence, I may look with a smile of content and gratitude; for every day has something, has innumerable things, good and cheerful in it, if I know but how to make the best of it.

In a change of situation, think not, like a child, of the toys you leave, and the toys you shall find to make you amends for them: all playthings are brittle think not, like a grazing animal, that you have changed one pasture for another; and

:

shall graze on this or that herb here with delight: “The herb withereth, the flower fadeth” every where. But think like a reasonable creature.This change was appointed for me: acquiescence is my duty; duty must be my support. Yet, I know, such is the condescendence of Infinite Goodness, that I shall have many a slighter relief and agreeableness thrown in; but these are, by the by, not to be reckoned on beforehand, nor to be grieved for if they fail or intermit.

MISS TALBOT.

ON THE PERVERSION OF TALENTS. AND least of all, let that man indulge the hope of impunity, who has profaned or perverted the glorious gift of high intellectual endowments. To see genius diffusing a malignant, instead of a beneficial influence-shining but to mislead-enchanting but to betray-to behold beings who were formed, not only to shed light and lustre over the sphere in which they move, but to shine as stars for ever and ever, voluntarily renouncing their high destiny, and led captive by Satan at his will, might make even angels weep. There is no instance of human perversity more deeply affecting-none over which a reflective and conscientious spirit mourns with keener feelings of regret.

Let the young and ardent mind, kindling with the love of knowledge, and delighting in communion with superior intellect, beware of the baneful influence of such perverted minds. Moderate your admiration-withhold your confi

dence-bring these talents to the touchstoneweigh them in the balance-will they not be found wanting ?-Have they been used to the glory of God, and promoted the best interests of man-or have they served only to invest voluptuousness with more seductive charms-and to render the delusions of infidelity more plausible and attractive?

"Be not deceived-God is not mocked-That which a man soweth, that shall he reap."

But turn from these false objects of admiration, to contemplate those who have blended the loftiest aspirations of genius, with the profound humility of a Christian-who have learned, from the pages of revelation, the holy lessons of faith and obedience-who have united the brightness of talent to the beauty of usefulness-and, amidst unwearied exertion, have still felt and acknowledged themselves to be but unprofitable servants

-"they have done that which it was their duty to do ;"-rich is their reward even on earth-in peace of conscience-in the admiration of the wise and good-but glorious and transcendent will be their reward in heaven in that day when the Lord "maketh up his jewels."

ANONYMOUS.

TRIVIAL DEVIATIONS THE PRECURSORS OF MORE IMPORTANT ONES. How many fruitless blasts have I been spending upon this sullen fire! it was not through the greenness of the wood that made it so uneasy to be kindled; but it was alone the greatness of the

logs, on which the fire could take no hold but through the intervention of such smaller sticks as were at first wanting here: witness that I had no sooner laid on a little brushwood, but the flame from those kindled twigs invading and prevailing on the billets, grew suddenly great enough to threaten to make the house itself part of its fuel, and turn it to such ashes as it reduces the wood into. Methinks the blaze of this fire should light me to discern something instructive in it. These blocks may represent our necessary, these sticks our less important religious practices, and this aspiring flame the subtile inhabiter of that of hell. It will be but successlessly that the devil can attempt our grand resolves, till he have first mastered our less considerable ones, and made his successes against them not only degrees, but instruments, in the destroying of the others. Our more neglected, and seemingly trivial affections, having once received his fiery impressions, do easily impart them to higher faculties, and serve to kindle solider materials. It is, therefore, the safest way to be faithful, even to our lesser determinations, and watchful over our less important passions; and whensoever we find ourselves tempted to violate the former or neglect the latter, not so barely to cast one eye on the inconsiderableness of what we are enticed to, as not to fix the other upon the consequences that may attend it; and therein to consider the importance of what such slighted things may, as they are managed, prove instrumental either to endanger or preserve.

BOYLE.

ON THE TOO EAGER PURSUIT OF
WORLDLY THINGS.

THERE is a third portion of seed that falls among
thorns. This wants neither root nor depth of
earth. It grows up; but the misfortune is, that
the thorns grow up with it. The fault of the
soil is not of bearing nothing, but of bearing too
much; of bearing what it ought not, of exhaust-
ing its strength and nutrition on vile and worth-
less productions, which choke the good seed, and
prevent it from coming to perfection.
"These
are they," says our Saviour in the parallel place
of St. Luke," which, when they have heard, go
forth, and are choked with cares, and riches, and
pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to per-
fection." In their youth, perhaps they receive
religious instruction, they imbibe right principles,
and listen to good advice: but no sooner do they
go forth, no sooner do they leave those persons
and those places from whom they received them,
than they take the road either of business or of
pleasure, pursue their interests, their amusements
or their guilty indulgences with unbounded eager-
ness, and have neither time nor inclination to cul-
tivate the seeds of religion that have been sown
in their hearts, and to eradicate the weeds that
have been mingled with them. The consequence
is, that the weeds prevail, and the seeds are
choked and lost.

Can there possibly be a more faithful picture of a large proportion of the Christian world? Let us look around us, and observe how the greater